Santa Maria della Fiducia
'Santa Maria della Fiducia '''is a mid 20th century parish church at Via Casilina 1837, in the eastern suburb of Finocchio which is part of the Borghesiana suburban district. The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Trust. History The church is one of the more basic designs of Tullio Rossi, and was erected in 1940. Back then, Finocchio was a small roadside hamlet centred on a 17th century inn called the ''Osteria del Finocchio. ''However, massive and unregulated suburban development began immediately after the Second World War as migrants displaced by military activity came to settle in Rome. The parish was set up in 1964. It was put into the care of the ''Oblati Figli della Madonna del Divino Amore, who are based at the shrine of the same name -Santuario della Madonna del Divino Amore. They were joined by the ''Suore Figlie della Madonna del Divino Amore, ''who established a convent and medical clinic next to the church. The church has always been regarded as the central focus of the suburb, especially since the ''Osteria ''was illegally demolished in the Sixties. Back then, the suburb suffered from massive illegal subdivision of farmland and the consequent lack of social facilities. There was also much organized crime, but things are better now. Appearance Layout and fabric The church has a single nave of four bays, and an integral five-sided apsidal sanctuary of the same width. The fabric is in brick, with the exterior walls rendered in a cream colour. The nave bays are separated by thin pilasters, and each bay has a round-headed window in each side wall. However, the last two bays have the presbytery and parish offices abutting them on the left hand side. The main roof is pitched and tiled, and also covers the near two sectors of the apse. The other three sectors have triangular pitches. There is no proper campanile, but a little gabled bell-cote sits on the presbytery with its right hand side on the far end of the left hand nave side wall. It has a single round-headed opening. Façade The windowless gabled façade has a stone plaque in its centre displaying the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII. The large open narthex has three entrance arches, with the piers painted brick-orange, and another arch on each side. The tiling on the sloping single-pitched narthex roof contains "AM" in darker tiles, which stands for "Ave Maria". The church stands back from the street, and the courtyard in front of it is attractively paved in grey with Marian symbols in white. Liturgy Church Mass is celebrated (parish website, June 2018): Weekdays 9:00, 18:00 (18:30 in DST); Sundays and Solemnities 7:00, 9:00, 10:15, 11:30, 18:00 (18:30 in DST). In July and August in previous years, the 10:15 and 11:30 Masses were replaced by one at 11:00. External Mass centres The parish maintains several external chapels-of-ease: ''Cappella delle Suore Figlie della Madonna del Divino Amore. ''This is the house chapel of the convent next to the church, at number 1835/F. Mass is celebrated on weekdays at 7:00, and Sundays and Solemnities at 10:00. Santa Maria dell’Oriente Santa Maria della Speranza a Pratolungo Santa Maria Consolata ai Due Colli (replacing Santa Maria della Provvidenza ai Due Colli) Sant'Antonio da Padova alla Borghesiana External links Official diocesan web-page Parish website Info.roma web-page History of the devotion Roman Despatches - blog with exterior photosCategory:Catholic churches Category:Outside the walls - South-East Category:Dedications to the Blessed Virgin Mary Category:Parish churches Category:20th century